Proof
by ZAPBETH
Summary: James Potter knew it was his day. LJ. oneshot.


**A/N: This is inspired by the Remus Lupins' song, "Maybe Tomorrow." However, I changed the pairing to Lily and James instead of Ron and Hermione, because I thought it fit better. Also some of James's lines are exact and somewhat altered quotes from the song. I encourage people to listen to the Remus Lupins if they're into Wizard Rock.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters within the series. Nor do I own the song Maybe Tomorrow by the Remus Lupins.**

James Potter knew it was his day: his hair was looking particularly messy and handsome, his glasses had not one speck of dirt on them, and Lily Evans seemed to be a good mood. He had been walking with an exaggerated swagger, and several girls had noticed it as he passed by. But there was only one girl that mattered today.

"Lily," James said, stopping next to her in line to get into the classroom. She turned to look at him with her bright green eyes, which had a look of exasperation in them, as if she already knew what he was going to say.

"What is it?"

"There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up –"

She cut him off by turning away as a form of showing she understood and was rejecting him… yet again.

"Come on, listen to the whole sentence before you decide it's beneath you," James said, frustrated; this was not the first time she had done that. Perhaps today was not his day after all.

"What's the point?" Lily said, evidently withholding her anger at his previous statement. "You'll ask me to Hogsmeade, I'll say no, you'll start to plead, and it will end with you saying that you love me."

"It doesn't always end that way, Lily," James insisted, trying to keep his dignity at all costs. She gave him a look that contradicted what he had said.

"Every conversation we have ends that way, Potter," Lily said bitterly and forcefully.

"What could I do to prove it to you that I love you?" James said, quickly turning from the topic she had brought up.

"On the table at dinner," she said simply, ignoring his expression as he processed her words. His eyes had gone wide behind his glasses, and his hand went up to run its way through his hair. James had not been expecting that at all, but he managed to squeak out a little, "What?"

"At dinner tonight, stand up on the table and shout at me that you love me in front of everyone, all the teachers and all the students."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Do that, and don't make it a joke, and I'll go to Hogsmeade with you on that weekend you were talking about," Lily said before walking into the classroom without allowing him to get another word in.

James's heart leapt at the prospect, and he knew, even if there had been a bit of doubt, that today was, after all, his day.

--

James cleared his throat before he looked down the table to see where Lily was sitting. Unfortunately, she was at the other end of the table, so he'd have to shout pretty loudly for her to hear it. And he might as well try to charm her even further.

He cleared his throat again and began to move the dishes aside to make room for him to stand on. Sirius and Remus shot him a strange look, because he hadn't told them about his agreement between himself and Lily.

"What are you doing, James?" Remus asked curiously as he watched James push away a dish of potatoes and slide his goblet toward Sirius. James shot him a look, hoping that it would make him be quiet.

He sat before the now-cleared section of the table. He cleared his throat yet again, simply out of nervousness. 'Just do it,' he told himself. 'Just do it, Potter; today's the day; come on, Potter!'

He looked at McGonagall, who was already looking at him with a scowl on her face, as if she already knew he was going to do something they normally wouldn't allow. But when had he never obeyed the rules?

He breathed in deeply to calm down his nerves. He got out of his seat, hopped onto it, and stepped onto the table. Silence spread like a herd of goats running in all directions in the Great Hall. He looked up and saw Dumbledore's eyes twinkling behind the half-moon spectacles, as if he knew exactly what he was going to say.

"Lily Evans, you've always known," James shouted, and the hall was silent as they listened to his words. "And you've been a tease, because you know that I love you, and yet you continue to argue with me and show me exactly what I don't have.

"I changed the way I wore my tie to please you. And I've seen you looking at me when I look at you, and everybody knows what we should do. And then I ask myself, what will it take for you to see me in that way?

"Is this good enough, Lily Evans? I love you. What more do you want from me?"

He saw the look on her face: a little of anger and sadness. He barely thought about what he was doing and what he was saying. He just kept saying what came to mind, and the room just kept listening.

"So, Lily Evans, with this declaration, I'm sacrificing my dignity for you. Is that good enough to get a Hogsmeade weekend with you?" James began to walk down the table toward where she was sitting as a spur of the moment idea. He carefully avoided the bowls of food and the platters filled with meat and the goblets containing pumpkin juice.

"And I've done everything I could think of in order to get you, short of kidnapping you and keeping you in my bathroom," James said, his voice decreasing in volume as he walked closer to her, his eyes locked on her so that he couldn't see McGonagall rise and then sit back down again after Dumbledore had said something to her.

"And I know we've been enemies before, and I've said cruel things to you, and you've ignored me and then mocked me afterward," he continued, making his way down the table, watching her facial expressions. He'd have given anything he owned in that moment to know what she was thinking.

Lily had gotten up out of her seat and looked as if she was torn between running out of the hall and jumping onto the table herself.

"Now, Lily Evans, you've heard me proclaim that I love you in the past," James said as he passed a group of first years that were staring up at him anxiously. "But you've never heard it shouted from atop a table in the Great Hall with all your fellow students listening. And you've never heard a speech shouted at you. You probably never expected a speech."

He had stopped in front of her, and she was fidgeting from what seemed to be nervousness. He reached down a hand to help her climb up onto the table also. She accepted it without a word, putting her hand in his.

It felt better than anything else he'd ever felt before, her hand in his. It was warm and soft, and he suddenly had the urge to grip it tighter and tighter and never let it out of his own.

As she stepped onto the table, she spoke, softly enough that people were straining to hear what she was saying, "You didn't have to go on such a rant, you know. 'Lily Evens, I love you. Always have and always will' would have been enough."

"I know," said James with his hand still enclosed around hers, "but you wouldn't have gotten up here with me if that was all I'd said." He smiled at her, his eyes bright and warm, his grin slightly idiotic. "Go to Hogsmeade with me next Saturday?"

"Sure, James," Lily said without hesitation. It wasn't because of what she had said earlier in the day, but because his words had touched her: she remembered all the different ways he'd tried asking her to go out with him, all the crazy schemes he'd done to try to get her attention.

And for once it didn't sound rehearsed to death; it sounded like he had spoken exactly what he thought, not filtering it or cutting portions out. He had surprised her by being completely honest about every, as far as she knew, at least.

And as James looked down into her eyes and saw himself reflecting back, he knew what he had to do. He had to cement it, to be sure she was as willing as he thought she was. He had to make sure this was what she wanted.

So he bent down and pushed forward his lips to kiss her. He could hear the cheering of the Gryffindors as the Head Boy and Girl finally did what every Gryffindor longed for them to do. He gently pressed his lips against hers, and suddenly the cheering sounded like it was a mile away.

He mind went blank; he didn't event think about what he had before thought of as impossibility: kissing Lily Evans. But there he was, there James Potter was, kissing Lily Evans on a table in the Great Hall in front of everyone.

But it ended after what had seemed like a millisecond. The noise was now thundering in his ears, and his face was still close to hers. There was another smile on her lips, and he was filled with a sudden, desperate urge to kiss it off those sweet lips.

"Let's get out of here," James said to her, grinning another foolish smile and moving his face only a little bit away from hers.

"We wouldn't be allowed to have a peaceful meal after that display," Lily agreed, taking his hand again in order to help herself hop off the table. He quickly followed her action but released her hand. They walked out of the hall, not holding hands, because James assumed it was too soon for that.

The room roared back to life, most conversations about the show that had unfolded in front of their eyes. It quickly fell back to silence when Dumbledore got to his feet to address the rest of the students.

"This array that conveniently happened during our dinner is a splendid lesson for all of us. After all, arrogance and stubbornness can only get us so far in life. The rest is compromise, as you just saw. However, though we certainly encourage people to negotiate, it would be for the best if you did not choose to do so on top of a table. It is quite unsanitary."


End file.
